Israel Not The `Bad Guy` In Middle East

February 03, 1991|By Randolph A. Kahn.

CHICAGO — There have been many assertions to the effect that peace in the Middle East would be achieved if the Palestinian question were resolved. Saddam Hussein has attempted to link a peaceful resolution of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait to the Palestinian issue.

It is understandable why these connections are made by Arab leaders. Why they are entertained by other leaders, however, is mysterious and confusing. It is clear that resolution of the Palestinian question, while necessary, will not send shock waves of peace through the Middle East.

Recently, Amnesty International published a report documenting that invading Iraqi troops ``gouged out eyes, cut off tongues, ears and genitals, left more than 300 premature babies to die after looting incubators from hospitals`` and raped, murdered and ravaged scores of Kuwaitis. Clearly, such carnage and disregard for human life has nothing to do with Israel.

In 1988, Saddam Hussein ordered the use of chemical weapons to quell Kurdish nationalism in the village of Halabja. According to reports, more than 5,000 men, women and children were killed in the attack. There is no connection between this slaughter of innocent people and a Palestinian homeland.

Throughout the 15-year civil war in Lebanon, in which 150,000 people have been killed, rival militias have fought to seize control of this war-torn country. Christians have killed Christians, Moslems have killed Moslems, Druzes have killed Druzes, Palestinians have killed Palestinians, and Syria and its agents have helped to ensure that peace does not break out. Israel had nothing to do with this bloodletting.

In the same way that there is no connection between the numerous intra-Arab or intra-Muslim conflicts and Israel, there is no connection between the Palestinian question and Iraq`s invasion of Kuwait. Such associations should be resisted at all costs and problems should be rectified by the conflict`s appropriate actors.

While it may be politically attractive for Hussein to bring the Palestinian cause to the bargaining table, there is a more understandable reason why he feels compelled to simultaneously resolve the current conflict and the Palestinian problem. According to Abdallah al-Neffeisi, an Islamic fundamentalist and former member of the Kuwaiti Parliament, Palestinian terrorist Abdul Abbas, a resident of Iraq, and his supporters have patrolled the streets of Kuwait. Other Kuwaitis have reported that many of the 400,000 Palestinians in Kuwait ``have cooperated with the Iraqis.``

In other words, Iraq is carrying the Palestinian banner not only because it is the only issue all the Arabs can agree to rally around and it detracts from Hussein`s own atrocities, but also because the Palestinians helped Hussein seize and control Kuwait. While one hand washes the other hand in the Middle East, which explains the Iraq and Palestinian relationship, Israel is not ``the bad guy`` and should not be forced to answer to Hussein.